Timmins Local Citizens Committee
Minutes of October 26, 2011
October 26, 2011
LCC hours: 48 hours
Year to Date: 218
Total: 6291.4
Date: October 26, 2011
Location: Ontario Government Complex, Fire Boardroom
Present: Bill Russell, Andy Chartrand, Kees Pols, Barry Edwards, Allan Moyle, Jenny Millson, Mark Joron, Bob Bielek, Marcel Cook
Regrets: James Naveau, Gail Krawchuk, Kees Stryland, Robert Calhoun, Dave Stringer, Stefanie Thibeault, Scott Tam, Pam Reid, Marc Lapalme, Rusty Fink, Ron Johnson
Absent:
MNR:, Randy Pickering, Mac Kilgour, Derrick Romain, Cory Wisemen, Forester, Cochrane District
Guests: Bree Andrews, Planning Forester, First Resources Management Group, Laurie Nuhn, Forester Intern, First Resources Management Group, Danielle Wieteska, Laurent Robichaud
Call to Order:
Bill Russell called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m.
Summary of Action Items for This Meeting:
Action Item 10-11-01: The LCC would like to have a presentation on the use of herbicides; MNR will provide this opportunity at a future meeting.
Action Item 10-11-02: The LCC would like to have a presentation on FSC or ISO standards as they relate to forest management planning; MNR will provide an opportunity for a presentation on forest certification at a future meeting.
Action Item 10-11-03: The LCC would like to have a presentation on the Stand and Site Guide; MNR will provide a presentation on the Stand and Site Guide at a future meeting.
Review and Approval of September 28, 2011 Minutes:
Motion to accept- Bob Bielek
Seconded by- Kees Pols
All in favour-Carried
Review and Approval of tonight’s agenda:
Motion to accept- Andy Chartrand
Seconded by- Mark Joron
All in favour-Carried
Letters/Correspondence
There are no letters or correspondence to report
District Manager Update- Randy Pickering
Randy provided the LCC members with a District update as follows:
MNDM&F have dropped the Forest portion of their portfolio; Forest section comes back to the MNR as part of the new government changes post election.
The Abitibi River Forest (ARF) Long Term Management Direction strategy has just been endorsed by the Regional Director
The ARF proposal for a Contingency Plan has been submitted to MOE for review and approval
MNR and MOE are working with Liberty Mine to have the tailings and waste water facilities brought up to specification so that the company can resume production at the Redstone mine site.
Gold Corp Hollinger project still in preliminary stages; the haul road construction and site clearing should commence shortly
VG Gold situated along the Back road are discussing options of an open pit mine; this area is in the vicinity of the blandings turtle.
MNDM/MNR are working on the final stages of the Kamiskotia tailings clean-up project They are currently working on the Northeast area/North creek. Amendments are in place to repair the original dam that sank about ½ meter; treated water from the plant will be re-routed to the south rather than back into the tailings facility. There are about 4 more years of work to complete the project; about $53 million dollars has been spent to date.
Mattagami Lake Dam hydrological model study has just been completed; this plan is in the final stages before planned construction commences next year at the site.
A SAC meeting is scheduled for November 21st; they will discuss the Mattagami River retro-fit projects update, Ivanhoe River proposal just to name a couple of agenda items.
There were two fires that MNR actioned over the Thanksgiving weekend. One fire was located on the Malette Road just a few kilometres west of the old Tembec mill. The other fire took place in the Ostrom mill yard where the mill’s saw-log piles caught on fire.
Mattagami River Sturgeon Restoration Project- Derrick Romain, Andy Chartrand, Laurent Robichaud
Derrick, Laurent and Andy provided the LCC members with an update on the ongoing Mattagami River sturgeon restoration project as follows:
Laurent provided his background to his interest in working with sturgeon; he started on the Groundhog River with a special boat he had purchased to navigate the waters in the river
For several years he worked with high school students to capture and release spawning sturgeon at the Camus rapids in ongoing population studies in that area.
The project was named Estumatta.
In 2002 Club Navigateur became involved in a sturgeon transfer in conjunction with MNR and the Timmins Fur Council; the objective of the project was to re-establish sturgeon in the reaches of the Mattagami River above Sandy Falls.
Andy provided some of the specific background to the 2002 Surgeon Re-establishment project; 50 fish were captured at Little Long dam facility north of Smooth Rock Falls and were transported to the boat launch in Timmins where they were fitted with radio tansmitters and released.
A total of 13 fish were fitted with radio transmitters and were monitored
6 fish actually went over the Sandy Falls dam into the lower reaches of the river
In 2004 a sturgeon had been netted at Pigeon rapids
In 2007 a sturgeon was captured in a net at the Tachikapika River.
This capture led to a netting project in 2009 and 2010 to see if there was younger sturgeon in that area; no fish were caught.
This spring Xstrata, OPG, MNR, Timmins Fur Council and Club Navigateur joined forces to complete a study above and below Sandy Fall dam to better understand the results of re-establishing sturgeon; the project is multi-year and is called the Mattagami River Restoration Project.
Derrick provided an overall summary of the project with some insight into the next steps.
In Ontario the largest sturgeon captured and recorded is 234 lbs.
Sturgeons are bottom feeders and migrate long distances especially after spawning
Sturgeon have been designated as species at risk
The fish were over exploited and their habitat was compromised through fishing, construction of dams, pollution
The purpose of the sturgeon study is to attain a better population estimate above and below Sandy Falls dam; identify and understand habitat usages and identify spawning sites.
The study is being conducted by several parties in a resource stewardship partnership arrangement
A netting project was conducted last spring with representation by all parties along with high school students.
Sturgeons were captured and measured; larger fish were fitted with telemetry equipment and returned to the river.
35 fish were captured below the dam and 13 were captured above the dam
Some of the information to date indicates that 2 of the captured juvenile sturgeon are 2- 5 years old
3 adults that weighed from 35-50 lbs were 23 and 37 years old.
A total of 11 transmitters were fitted into the fish; 3 adults were released, 2 above the dam and 1 below the dam; 8 juveniles were fitted with transmitters and released; 2 above and 6 below.
The next steps include more river mapping and 2 years of sturgeon monitoring.
Following the presentation, there was time for questions as follows:
Q- Is sturgeon a salt water species too?
A- BC white sturgeons are salt/fresh water species
Q- Do fish ladders work?
A- Yes, fish ladders do work; but care has to be taken in terms of respecting natural fish migration routes and heeding natural barriers.
Q- Does fluctuating water levels affect sturgeon?
A- Yes, there are ongoing discussions regarding water fluctuation and water management for power in Water Management Plans.
Q- Do you receive public funds for work with the stewardship project?
A- Public funding availability comes from proposal to the CFWIP program and Companies such as Xstrata and OPG assist with funds.
The Chairman thanked Laurent, Andy and Derrick for their presentation and discussion.
Abitibi River Forest (ARF)-Stand and Site Guide Application- Laurie Nuhn
Laurie provided the LCC members with the ARF application of the Stand and Site Guide; she provided the following; see a copy of her presentation attached:
The ARF planning team is using the new guide which encompasses 22 old guides
Some of the changes in this plan are:
.25 ha. patch to be left for every 50 ha. cut
25 patches for every 500 ha. cut
No 120 meter MAFA but patches will be left next to shoreline
Shoreline disturbances will be allowed with a mix of harvest and residual
25 trees/ha with 10 trees representative of the stand being harvested; this a change from 6 that has been practiced to date
In the application of the stand and site guide for modified harvesting residual forest, “residual forest” is defined as forests that are 35 years old or older, height greater than 10 meters, minimum leave patch must be .1 ha., >50% canopy closure must be maintained and the stand must be at least 80% stocked.
For nest cores and shoreline disturbance details, refer to the attached presentation
Modified operations will be permitted depending upon factors such as degree of slope, forest type or otherwise marked as “no modified operations”
Buffers are applied at the high water mark in the field; check out the slides referring to the variations of harvest and achieving residual forest for stream and lake/pond applications
In all nest values applications there are three parts, core/residual and timing.
In the example of the osprey, the core is 75 meters (no cut)/residual harvest is allowed 76-150 meters leaving >60% canopy closure/regular harvest from 150-300 meters outside of the nesting/timing window depending upon occupancy. This is a change from previous prescription of 151-300 meter modified harvest.
In the example of the blue heron, the core radius is a 75 meter no cut/ residual harvest of 76-150 meters>60% canopy closure/harvest from 151-300 with residual pattern depending upon colony size outside of timing restrictions depending upon occupancy. The previous prescription allowed for 150 meter no cut and 151-300 meter modified harvest
In the example of the bald eagle the core radius is 100 meter no cut/101-200 meter.60% canopy closure and regular harvest from 201-400 meters outside of timing restrictions depending upon occupancy. The previous prescription allowed for no harvest within 200 meters/201-400 meters of no harvest within critical; nesting periods.
Q- Why is there a need to harvest trees within shoreline buffers?
A- The application of the stand and site guides allows for more natural emulation of nature/science indicates that this modification should be allowed.
Q- Are Lands for Life areas exempt from harvest?
A- Yes these lands were set aside for protection and no harvest is allowed
Q- Does the application of the Stand and Site Guide meet ISO standards?
A- This is a good question; the TFAI is being audited soon and it will be interesting to share the results.
Q- Are the new prescriptions minimal standards that should be met in the guide?
A- The prescriptions are set in place to provide adequate protection to the areas of concern and the effects will be monitored.
There was plenty of round table discussion that took place about the pros/cons of allowing harvest machinery close to water such as the risks that are being taken with the use of hydraulic machinery in riparian areas and the promotion of hardwood species to regenerate along the shorelines that would benefit wildlife habitat.
The Chairman thanked Laurie for her presentation and discussion.
Romeo Malette Forest Update- Mac Kilgour
Mac provided the LCC members with the following update on the RMF as follows:
In 2010 approximately 2xharvest area was cut with most of the fibre going to Eacom and other mills such as Ostrom, Chapleau Tembec, Cochrane Tembec and Georgia Pacific in Englehart all benefiting from the forest.
In 2011 about ¼ of an annual harvest is scheduled with wood licenced to Millson and Debastos.
In 2011, 2 million trees were planted, portion of the Gogama Unit Road has been re-constructed, Tembec has completed a FTG flight and MNR will complete a 10% audit of the company results.
Renewal rate discussion for 2012 will commence soon
The Trust fund is presently healthy
IFA 2007 Action Plan Status report will soon be completed
Anticipate an Independent Forest Audit scheduled for the RMF in 2012
Grants old mill in Timmins is being torn down
Hardwood/poplar markets are still slow
Forest Industry are still focussing heavy to conifer stands in light of slow hard-wood markets
Abitibi River Forest Update- Mac Kilgour
Mac provided the LCC members with the following update on the ARF as follows:
LTMD has just been endorsed
The Planning team is presently focussed on Area of Concern planning
Information centres will be scheduled for December
There are plans to meet with Mayors to discuss the FMP.
Round Table Discussions
Would appreciate a presentation and discussion about chemical spray at a future meeting; would also like to see amount of area being sprayed on the forests
Glad to see Forest back with MNR
Good meeting; very interactive
Good feedback on the Stand and Site Guide discussion
Would like to see more information on FSC and ISO ratings
Excellent presentations
Would like to have a presentation on the background to the Stand and Site Guides
Great variety in the meeting agenda; thanks to Laurent and Andy for talking about their experiences with the sturgeon project.
Action Item 10-11-01: The LCC would like to have a presentation on the use of herbicides; MNR will provide this opportunity at a future meeting.
Action Item 10-11-02: The LCC would like to have a presentation on FSC or ISO standards as they relate to forest management planning; MNR will provide an opportunity for a presentation on forest certification at a future meeting.
Action Item 10-11-03: The LCC would like to have a presentation on the Stand and Site Guide; MNR will provide a presentation on the Stand and Site Guide at a future meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm
Next Meeting is scheduled for December 14, 2011 at the Fire Boardroom of the OGC.
Please contact Gail Krawchuk at gga@ntl.sympatico.ca if you cannot attend.
Minutes typed by: Minutes approved by:
…………………… …………………………
Gail Krawchuk Bill Russell
LCC Secretary Chair